1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to distributed processing and relates specifically to a method and apparatus for providing remote, distributed, processing of a task by employing the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In typical distributed systems, a plurality of clients are serviced by one or more servers in a local area network. When a client requires the processing resources of a server, it names a particular server and sends a job to that server. The server queues the particular job and, in turn, executes that particular job and returns the results to the originating client.
This distributed processing model suffers from three distinct disadvantages. First, this distributed processing model is static in that the number of servers is typically fixed and set by a network manager. For example, a typical local area network may have three to four servers that service a number of clients. Since the number of servers is static and does not change unless a new server is physically added to the local area network (i.e., an additional server is purchased and installed into the network), the computing resources available to the clients in the local area network are also fixed.
A second disadvantage is that computer systems are typically under-utilized. For example, a home computer typically is idle (or handling trivial tasks that require a small fraction of the processing power available, (such as serving as a phone message machine) when one is at a workplace, and one's workplace computer is idle when one is at home. Additionally, most home computers are idle during the times when one is asleep.
A third disadvantage of prior art distributed processing models is that for jobs requiring a substantial amount of processing or computing resources, the clients of the local area network are relegated to one of two non-optimal choices. First, a client can send a job to an outside source that will process the job. However, this option is costly and wasteful of time since the client must come to an agreement with an outside vender over price and quality of service and physically transfer the job to that vendor. Moreover, the vendor, who is typically remote physically from the client, must process the job and physically return the results back to the client. A second option, if the servers in a LAN can handle the job, is to allow the client to monopolize system resources and to process the job, while the other clients in the network wait for processing resources. A third option is to dispatch the job to a multi-tasking server, which will run the job with other jobs. The this third option reduces system performance since a multi-tasking server is typically slower than a single thread server. It is evident that none of these options are favored by a network administrator.
A fourth disadvantage is that the typical distributed processing model does not allow for an easy to use accounting system where clients can pay for a particular processing job and resource providers/servers can obtain payment for the use of their resources.
Accordingly, there is presently an unmet need in the industry for a method and apparatus for providing improved distributed processing that overcomes the disadvantages mentioned previously.